I agree with David about the dropping exam policy not being a good one. I do not adopt this policy in my classes mainly because it is sending the wrong message to students that they will not always be responsible for learning the information presented in lecture and text. The student can tell him or herself "well I didn't study that much for this exam so I will just drop this one. Who cares." This is NOT the mind-set we want to implant into our students' head. We have to teach and send the message to students that they are responsible and accountable for knowing the course information and that exams are mandatory and not optional. Another problem with this approach is that let's say you give 4 exams and allow students to drop 1 exam they miss. So what you are doing is really grading on 3 exams instead of 4. Do you know why? It is very simple. If a student got A's on 3 exams then they don't have to study or take the 4th exam anymore to get an A in the class. Is this right or appropriate? In my opinion not at all. Students should be responsible and required to take all exams and should only be allowed to make-up an exam they miss with emergency documentation. Otherwise we will be treating them like elementary and high school students and not like adults and college students. This is the "Big Leagues" where there is a lot of work and a lot of expectations!
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